Marketing Tactics

With approximately 1.5 billion smartphones currently in use today, it is safe to say mobile is radically changing consumer retail behavior. To maximize in-store sales opportunities and minimize hurdles to purchase, retailers must change their approach to reach a new generation of customers steeped in a mobile lifestyle.

But how should retailers best interact with their customers in this new age of mobile? A new innovation from Apple could be one answer: iBeacon.

New York – 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. reportedly had a difficult time meeting customer demand for Valentine’s Day. According to CNN, the retailer has sent apologies via Twitter and Facebook to roughly 1,000 customers for deliveries that were late, missing or damaged.

With tax refunds arriving in mail boxes soon, the 6,500 unit GameStop chain is looking to capture its share of the windfall with a promotion involving gaming giveaways and a new car.

New York -- nGage Labs and Web Decisions have entered into an arrangement that combines nGage’s personalized mobile customer engagement capabilities with Web Decision’s omnichannel marketing database solutions to create a fully integrated database-drive mobile customer engagement solution.

San Francisco - Launching Feb. 18 "Lived-In,” Gap's global marketing campaign, features magazine, outdoor and social components. These include Gap's Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram communities, with the hashtag #LivedIn.

Omnichannel marketers have gained a new personalization weapon to engage with shoppers thanks to a partnership between nGage Labs and Web Decisions.

The firms announced a new arrangement that combines nGage’s personalized mobile customer engagement capabilities with Web Decision’s omnichannel marketing database solutions to create a fully integrated database-drive mobile customer engagement solution.

More momentum for Pinterest and the emergence of social shopping are among the top social media trends that research and analytics firm Blueocean Market Intelligence predicts will impact the retail industry this year.

The firm analyzed the online sales data of the nation’s top 100 retailers from September through December 2013 as part of an ongoing global study assessing the business impact of top retailers social media efforts in a report called, “Social Media Effectiveness Index for Retailers”

Tejon Ranch, Calif. — Pottery Barn plans to open a new outlet store at The Outlets at Tejon. At 12,397-sq. ft., it will be the retailer’s ninth outlet store in the U.S. and its only current outlet store in California.

Currently under construction and slated to open in August 2014, The Outlets at Tejon is located on Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, Calif.